an Introduction to Wholeness and Armoring for Spiritual Warfare

This is the first in a new series of articles that will focus on the Christian faith. The goal of the series is to offer a foundation to those who are not well versed in scripture or are new to the Kingdom. Spiritual Warfare is real and we live on the battlefield. Living in sin or with immorality places gaps in our armor and will leave us vulnerable. These articles may seem incomplete, but the reason is to inspire the reader to do their own research. This is teaching you how to fish instead of giving you the fish.

To be righteous means to walk in faith with God. Men on their own can only achieve rightness, but through divine mercy and grace we may become righteous. And while faith is paramount and one cannot work their way into God’s mercy, we must work in the ways of Jesus. Faith and works may seem mutually exclusive, but in fact they are inclusive. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and live to the letter or spirit of the Bible you will be both faithful to the Father and in your walking with him accomplish deeds in and for his glory.

So that we may act and be more whole (holy) like God it is important not only to be strong in the scripture but also in character. Let’s now dive into some terminology that you probably know but might not understand fully. For as it says in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Virtues are character traits or qualities that cause or lead to moral uprightness as a habit. Virtues are typically thought to be intrinsic to the individual being imparted by habituation and practice. For example, a courageous person will act with courage. Courage itself is action in the face of fear, as opposed to bravery which is action without fear. Our exemplar here has been in a fearful situation and instead of being paralyzed and or fleeing, they acted and the outcome was desirable. Thus they incorporate courage.  As author Chris Voss puts it: “When the pressure is on, you don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to your highest level of preparation.” Other examples include honesty, compassion, generosity, justice, wisdom, and temperance among others. Every time we act and find positive outcomes we are more likely to repeat the action. This practice is preparation.

Values are broader. While virtue asks what kind of person you want to be, values ask us what we deem important. Values can be influenced by external forces like ethics or culture. Virtues and values can overlap but do differ. For example, the value of justice is being desirous of a just outcome, but embodying the virtue of justice implies that you the individual will act in a just way presumably with fairness, mercy, and impartiality.

Morals and morality, like virtue, are intrinsic to the individual. It is the compass that indicates within each of us what is right and wrong. And like all compasses they need to be calibrated. There is variability from person to person as not everyone feels guilt and shame over the same things. Moreover, they are more flexible than ethics.

Ethics are external rules derived from the law, professional codes of conduct, policies, and society. They are also typically enforceable with penalties beyond shame and guilt which may include a loss of professional license or status, administrative punishment, or even jail time. Furthermore, ethical action can be illegal. For example, Grandma’s heart medication prescription has expired; as a pharmacist, you cannot refill an expired prescription; if grandma does not get her heart medication she will die and it is 5pm and Friday, so good luck reaching her doctor. In this scenario it would be unethical to let the woman die. Granted this is an emergency, but that does not make the action of dispensing a couple of pills any less illegal.

The Bible provides us with values such as, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). From here we can build virtues and morals to achieve them. This provides only a small sampling of values from a specific verse. More broadly, you can use the golden rule to flesh out your morality, or I can sum it up in one word: service. We are servants to the Lord, stewards of the environment and animals, and keepers of our brothers and sisters. Withing the concept of servitude rests just about any virtue and moral one might come up with.

Furthermore, there is value in being virtuous. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (2 Peter 1:3-9).

With this understanding let each one of us look to the Bible for examples so that we may calibrate our values, virtues, and morals. Ethics will be covered on another article, but for now calibrate your internal paradigm so that you may be more holy. Once you have embodied these qualities, you will instinctively want to enact them and you will become the change you seek and carry out the work of the Lord.

If you feel so inclined, comment scripture or examples of a value, virtue or moral below. This is meant to be a community experience after all.